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Matt's Today in History, The End of a World, September 2, 1945

The End of a World, September 2, 1945

On September 2nd, 1945, the Second World War ended with the signing of surrender documents by a Japanese government and military delegation on board the American battleship USS Missouri. Military representatives of every Allied power fighting in the Pacific were present, along with members of the press, who reported the sights and sounds of the ceremony to a world eager for peace. From beginning to end, the event lasted 23 minutes. And though most people alive at the time did not realize it, the ceremony also marked the beginning of one world and the end of another.

Although history rarely falls into the neat patterns of human expectation, there are dates which clearly mark the beginnings or ends of eras. September 2nd, 1945 marked the end of several eras---cultural, political, and military. It also marked the beginning of the world in which we now live, a world that would be fundamentally different had just a few small events turned out differently in 1945. While most people alive today had not yet been born when the Second World War ended, we live with the aftereffects of that conflagration every day.

As the victorious allied representatives stared at the Japanese delegation on the other side of the table holding the surrender documents, some of them had to wonder what they had won. The Soviet officers present were citizens of a nation that had suffered over 23 million military and civilian deaths, although the exact figure will never be known. That number represented 14% of the USSR's population. Only Poland, with nearly six million dead, had a greater percentage of its population killed by the war. For Soviet leader Josef Stalin, the war was far from over. Eastern Europe and the area that would become East Germany were subject to communist reprisals for years after the war officially ended in Europe in May, 1945. Anyone living in an area under Soviet control that had fought with Germany or in any way opposed the Red Army was arrested and either sent to the infamous gulags of Siberia or summarily executed. German prisoners-of-war being held by the Soviets did not go home when the war ended; most of them died during the war years. Those who survived were put to work at various industrial sites inside the Soviet Union and were not repatriated until the mid-1950s. Most of these men were not guilty of war crimes and a majority weren't Nazis; they just had the misfortune of being on the losing side and surrendering to an enemy that did not recognize the Geneva Convention's rules governing the treatment of prisoners-of-war. Not that being on the winning side helped many Soviet soldiers held by the Germans when the war ended. Almost all of them were imprisoned upon returning to their home country under orders from Stalin, who probably saw them as an embarrassing reminder of how badly he had blundered during the German invasion of the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941. Some of the Soviet POWs and others, including many Polish soldiers, had no desire to return to areas controlled by the communists because they knew what awaited them. What they did not know, and what the world would not know for another 50 years, was that their fates had already been decided by Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and US President Franklin Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference in February, 1945. One of Stalin's demands was for the quick return of any Soviet or Eastern European citizen who had ended the war in territory not controlled by the Red Army. Churchill and Roosevelt agreed to this demand, even though they understood the implications. Apologists for both men claim they were ignorant of Stalin's plans, but history recent to 1945 had shown the Soviet leader to be genocidal and paranoid. The two Western leaders were, by tacit approval, helping to send tens of thousands of men to certain imprisonment or death.

The Chinese delegation on board the Missouri that Sunday morning was comprised of representatives of the Republic of China, the legitimate Nationalist government of that nation as recognized by all the allies except the Soviet Union. China had been embroiled in a civil war since 1928, a struggle that was largely abandoned while the two sides, the Nationalists and the Communists, fought separately against the Japanese. At the same time the Japanese surrender ceremony commenced in Tokyo Harbor, the two Chinese belligerents were trying to hammer out some sort of agreement on their nation's future. But fighting continued, and by the middle of 1946 the two sides were again fully engaged in a death struggle. The Nationalists could claims superior numbers in terms of manpower, but the Communists controlled the countryside and were soon bolstered by farmers who were promised their own land in exchange for military service, a promise that quickly turned into a fantasy. By the end of the 1949, the war was over and the Communists were taking power in Beijing. The Nationalists escaped to Taiwan and set up a government-in-exile, but from the beginning it was obvious that they would never again control the mainland. They had not only been beaten by the Communists, but by years of struggle against the Japanese occupation.

China would undergo painful upheavals over the next 40 years, including the Great Leap Forward, a plan to make the nation into an industrial giant in the course of just a few years. As a result of mismanagement and the allocation of resources away from agriculture to manufacturing, the years 1958-1962 saw more than 16 million people (and possibly as many as 40 million) die of starvation. This failed movement led directly to the Cultural Revolution, the effects of which shaped Chinese society for a generation.

Also represented on the Missouri were the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands. All three had been colonial powers in the Pacific before the outbreak of hostilities, but most of their possessions had been occupied by Japanese forces and, with a few exceptions, would never be fully under their control again. France tried to quell the rising tide of anti-colonialism in French Indochina (Vietnam), but after a stunning military defeat at the hands of Viet Minh communists in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu, the government in Paris was done in mainland Asia. Vietnam was divided in two, but the partition solved nothing. In a little over 10 years, American, Australian and South Korean troops would be fighting communist insurgents and North Vietnamese Army regulars in the jungles of South Vietnam.

Of all the colonial powers, the British Empire paid the highest price for victory. The British people and the colonial citizens of the Empire, along with the Dominion nations, had stood alone against the Nazi war machine from the fall of France in May, 1940 until the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June, 1941. British, Australian, New Zealand, Indian, and dozens of other nations' soldiers, sailors, and airmen from across the Empire fought on almost every front during the war. Resources were always strained, even after the United States entered the war in December, 1941. In 1922, four years after the end of the First World War, one in four human beings lived in lands controlled by the British Empire. It was truly worldwide in scope; when people said the sun never set on the British Empire, they meant it. But even then, cracks were starting to appear. Defending far-flung outposts required the world's largest navy and a large standing army. The Royal Navy met the challenge, at least until the outbreak of the Second World War. But Britain could not maintain a large standing army as France did during most of the inter-war years. Nor could it fight a two-front war. The Empire had reached beyond its grasp; bravery and a stiff upper lip were no longer enough to win the day on their own. Such was the availability of the Royal Navy, for example, that when the British Pacific Fleet was formally organized in 1944 from smaller area commands, the entire formation was given a single task force number when operating with units of the US Pacific Fleet, itself part of a navy which had strength of more than 6,000 ships in 1945. The British Pacific Fleet contained fewer than 180 vessels during the same period. The Empire's largest colony, India, gained its independence in 1947. Within 20 years, almost all the colonial territories would be independent nations. By the time the generation who fought the war reached middle age, the term ‘British Empire' was no longer in use. Economically devastated, it would not be until the beginning of the 1950's that the UK's economy would again show sustained growth. Of all the allied powers, only the United States emerged stronger overall than when the war began. While the death of nearly 420,000 Americans was a grievous loss, it was actually a smaller death toll than had occurred during the US Civil War 80 years before. And it was a much smaller total than expected, since all but a handful of Americans assumed that victory in the Pacific would require an invasion of the Japanese home islands. While the morality of bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki is debated today, the average American of 1945 welcomed the news with relief. While the economic might of the United States had been evident for decades, it emerged from the Second World War as a superpower in every quantifiable way. But that status came with great responsibilities. By 1947, the Cold War with the Soviet Union was underway. Historians will probably debate the true origins of this standoff for the next few centuries and we will not delve into the causes or merits of it here. The Soviet Union's military might did not fade immediately after the war; conversely, the United States' military draw-down was quick and, as later events would prove, excessive. The lessons learned from the Berlin Airlift in 1947-48 and the Korean War (1950-53) led to a situation unique in American history. Until the mid-20th century, the United States had an established tradition of allowing the American military to shrink to alarming levels during times of peace. When war loomed, citizen soldiers volunteered (or were drafted) to fill in the ranks, led by the small corps of professional officers and senior enlisted men. Arms manufacturers cranked up production and makers of other products began making the tools of combat.

So it had been from the War of Independence to the Second World War. But those days had passed. The Cold War required constant readiness, which required a relatively large military. The United States kept troops on permanent station in West Germany, South Korea, Japan, and dozens of other places around the world, armed and trained for the Third World War. This costly endeavor was maintained for 40 years, until the breakup of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991. Such military strength required the creation of a permanent arms industry in the United States, Europe and Asia. The so-called military-industrial complex is still with us and probably always will be. America's willingness to out-spend and out-research the Soviet Union in terms of military spending and procurement was one of the leading causes of the collapse of communism in Europe. The Cold War was won not with the force of arms, but by the constant threat of new and better ones.

It doesn't take much examination to see how fundamentally our world changed because of the Second World War. That war brought an end to the vestiges of 19th century life, mainly colonialism and the idea that wars were only to be fought against a nation's military, not its entire civilian population. It also created the specter of nuclear annihilation, a reality that probably kept the world out of another worldwide conflagration. But that's another story.

The End of a World, September 2, 1945 Das Ende einer Welt, 2. September 1945 Το τέλος ενός κόσμου, 2 Σεπτεμβρίου 1945 The End of a World, September 2, 1945 El fin del mundo, 2 de septiembre de 1945 La fin d'un monde, 2 septembre 1945 La fine di un mondo, 2 settembre 1945 世界の終わり、1945年9月2日 Koniec świata, 2 września 1945 r. O fim do mundo, 2 de setembro de 1945 Конец света, 2 сентября 1945 года Bir Dünyanın Sonu, 2 Eylül 1945 世界末日，1945 年 9 月 2 日

On September 2nd, 1945, the Second World War ended with the signing of surrender documents by a Japanese government and military delegation on board the American battleship USS Missouri. 2 Eylül 1945'te İkinci Dünya Savaşı, Amerikan savaş gemisi USS Missouri'de Japon hükümeti ve askeri heyeti tarafından teslim belgelerinin imzalanmasıyla sona erdi. 1945年9月2日，第二次世界大战以日本政府和军事代表团在美国密苏里号战列舰上签署投降文件而告终。 Military representatives of every Allied power fighting in the Pacific were present, along with members of the press, who reported the sights and sounds of the ceremony to a world eager for peace. Pasifik'te savaşan tüm Müttefik güçlerin askeri temsilcilerinin yanı sıra törenin görüntü ve seslerini barış için sabırsızlanan dünyaya aktaran basın mensupları da hazır bulundu. 在太平洋作战的每个盟军的军事代表和新闻界人士都出席了仪式，他们向渴望和平的世界报道了仪式的景象和声音。 From beginning to end, the event lasted 23 minutes. Etkinlik başından sonuna kadar 23 dakika sürdü. 活动自始至终持续了23分钟。 And though most people alive at the time did not realize it, the ceremony also marked the beginning of one world and the end of another. O dönemde yaşayan çoğu insan bunun farkında olmasa da, bu tören aynı zamanda bir dünyanın başlangıcına ve diğerinin sonuna işaret ediyordu. 尽管当时活着的大多数人没有意识到这一点，但这一仪式也标志着一个世界的开始和另一个世界的结束。

Although history rarely falls into the neat patterns of human expectation, there are dates which clearly mark the beginnings or ends of eras. Tarih nadiren insan beklentilerinin düzgün kalıplarına girse de, dönemlerin başlangıçlarını veya sonlarını açıkça işaret eden tarihler vardır. 尽管历史很少符合人类期望的整齐模式，但有些日期可以清楚地标记时代的开始或结束。 September 2nd, 1945 marked the end of several eras---cultural, political, and military. 2 Eylül 1945, kültürel, siyasi ve askeri birçok dönemin sonu oldu. 1945 年 9 月 2 日标志着几个时代的结束——文化、政治和军事。 It also marked the beginning of the world in which we now live, a world that would be fundamentally different had just a few small events turned out differently in 1945. Bu aynı zamanda şu anda içinde yaşadığımız dünyanın da başlangıcıydı. 1945'te sadece birkaç küçük olay farklı gelişseydi dünya temelden farklı bir yer olacaktı. 它也标志着我们现在生活的世界的开始，如果 1945 年发生的一些小事件发生了不同的变化，这个世界将会发生根本性的变化。 While most people alive today had not yet been born when the Second World War ended, we live with the aftereffects of that conflagration every day. Alors que la plupart des personnes vivant aujourd'hui n'étaient pas encore nées à la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, nous vivons chaque jour les séquelles de cette conflagration. Bugün hayatta olan insanların çoğu İkinci Dünya Savaşı sona erdiğinde henüz doğmamış olsa da, her gün bu yangının artçı etkileriyle yaşıyoruz. 虽然今天活着的大多数人在第二次世界大战结束时尚未出生，但我们每天都生活在那场大火的后遗症中。

As the victorious allied representatives stared at the Japanese delegation on the other side of the table holding the surrender documents, some of them had to wonder what they had won. Muzaffer müttefik temsilcileri, masanın diğer tarafında teslim belgelerini tutan Japon delegasyonuna bakarken, bazıları ne kazandıklarını merak etmek zorunda kaldı. 当获胜的盟军代表盯着桌子另一边拿着投降文件的日本代表团时，他们中的一些人不得不想知道他们赢得了什么。 The Soviet officers present were citizens of a nation that had suffered over 23 million military and civilian deaths, although the exact figure will never be known. Orada bulunan Sovyet subayları, kesin rakam hiçbir zaman bilinemeyecek olsa da, 23 milyondan fazla askeri ve sivil ölüme maruz kalmış bir ulusun vatandaşlarıydı. 在场的苏联军官是一个遭受了超过 2300 万军人和平民死亡的国家的公民，尽管确切数字永远不会为人所知。 That number represented 14% of the USSR's population. 这个数字占苏联人口的 14%。 Only Poland, with nearly six million dead, had a greater percentage of its population killed by the war. Sadece Polonya, yaklaşık altı milyon ölü ile nüfusunun daha büyük bir yüzdesini savaşta kaybetmiştir. 只有波兰有近 600 万人死于战争，其人口中死于战争的比例更高。 For Soviet leader Josef Stalin, the war was far from over. Sovyet lideri Josef Stalin için savaş henüz bitmemişti. 对于苏联领导人约瑟夫斯大林来说，战争远未结束。 Eastern Europe and the area that would become East Germany were subject to communist reprisals for years after the war officially ended in Europe in May, 1945. L'Europe de l'Est et la région qui allait devenir l'Allemagne de l'Est ont fait l'objet de représailles communistes pendant des années après la fin officielle de la guerre en Europe en mai 1945. Doğu Avrupa ve Doğu Almanya olacak bölge, Mayıs 1945'te Avrupa'da savaş resmen sona erdikten sonra yıllarca komünist misillemelere maruz kaldı. 1945 年 5 月欧洲战争正式结束后，东欧和后来成为东德的地区多年来一直受到共产党的报复。 Anyone living in an area under Soviet control that had fought with Germany or in any way opposed the Red Army was arrested and either sent to the infamous gulags of Siberia or summarily executed. Sovyet kontrolü altındaki bir bölgede yaşayan ve Almanya ile savaşmış ya da herhangi bir şekilde Kızıl Ordu'ya karşı çıkmış olan herkes tutuklanarak ya Sibirya'nın kötü şöhretli gulaglarına gönderildi ya da yargısız infaz edildi. 任何生活在苏联控制下的地区并与德国作战或以任何方式反对红军的人都会被捕，要么被送往臭名昭著的西伯利亚古拉格集中营，要么被即决处决。 German prisoners-of-war being held by the Soviets did not go home when the war ended; most of them died during the war years. Sovyetler tarafından tutulan Alman savaş esirleri savaş sona erdiğinde evlerine dönmedi; çoğu savaş yıllarında öldü. 战争结束后，被苏联关押的德国战俘没有回家；他们中的大多数人死于战争年代。 Those who survived were put to work at various industrial sites inside the Soviet Union and were not repatriated until the mid-1950s. Hayatta kalanlar Sovyetler Birliği içindeki çeşitli sanayi tesislerinde çalıştırıldı ve 1950'lerin ortalarına kadar ülkelerine geri gönderilmedi. 幸存者被派往苏联境内的各个工业场所工作，直到 50 年代中期才被遣返。 Most of these men were not guilty of war crimes and a majority weren't Nazis; they just had the misfortune of being on the losing side and surrendering to an enemy that did not recognize the Geneva Convention's rules governing the treatment of prisoners-of-war. La plupart de ces hommes n'étaient pas coupables de crimes de guerre et une majorité n'étaient pas des nazis; ils ont juste eu le malheur d'être du côté des perdants et de se rendre à un ennemi qui ne reconnaissait pas les règles de la Convention de Genève régissant le traitement des prisonniers de guerre. Bu adamların çoğu savaş suçu işlememişti ve çoğunluğu da Nazi değildi; sadece kaybeden tarafta olma ve Cenevre Sözleşmesi'nin savaş esirlerine yönelik muameleyi düzenleyen kurallarını tanımayan bir düşmana teslim olma talihsizliğini yaşadılar. 这些人中的大多数都没有犯有战争罪，而且大多数人也不是纳粹分子。他们只是不幸地处于失败的一方并向不承认《日内瓦公约》关于战俘待遇的规则的敌人投降。 Not that being on the winning side helped many Soviet soldiers held by the Germans when the war ended. Kazanan tarafta olmak, savaş sona erdiğinde Almanların elindeki pek çok Sovyet askerine yardımcı olmadı. 并不是说站在胜利的一方帮助了战争结束时被德国人关押的许多苏联士兵。 Almost all of them were imprisoned upon returning to their home country under orders from Stalin, who probably saw them as an embarrassing reminder of how badly he had blundered during the German invasion of the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941. Neredeyse hepsi ülkelerine döndükten sonra, muhtemelen onları 1941 yazında Almanya'nın Sovyetler Birliği'ni işgali sırasında ne kadar kötü bir hata yaptığının utanç verici bir hatırlatıcısı olarak gören Stalin'in emriyle hapsedildi. 几乎所有人都在斯大林的命令下返回祖国后被监禁，斯大林可能认为他们是一个令人尴尬的提醒，提醒他在 1941 年夏天德国入侵苏联期间犯了多么严重的错误。 Some of the Soviet POWs and others, including many Polish soldiers, had no desire to return to areas controlled by the communists because they knew what awaited them. Aralarında çok sayıda Polonyalı askerin de bulunduğu bazı Sovyet savaş esirleri ve diğerleri, kendilerini neyin beklediğini bildikleri için komünistlerin kontrolündeki bölgelere dönmek istemiyordu. 一些苏联战俘和其他人，包括许多波兰士兵，不想返回共产党控制的地区，因为他们知道等待他们的是什么。 What they did not know, and what the world would not know for another 50 years, was that their fates had already been decided by Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and US President Franklin Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference in February, 1945. Bilmedikleri ve dünyanın bir 50 yıl daha bilemeyeceği şey, kaderlerinin Şubat 1945'teki Yalta Konferansı'nda Stalin, İngiltere Başbakanı Winston Churchill ve ABD Başkanı Franklin Roosevelt tarafından çoktan belirlenmiş olduğuydu. 他们不知道的是，在接下来的 50 年里世界也不会知道的是，斯大林、英国首相温斯顿丘吉尔和美国总统富兰克林罗斯福在 1945 年 2 月的雅尔塔会议上已经决定了他们的命运。 One of Stalin's demands was for the quick return of any Soviet or Eastern European citizen who had ended the war in territory not controlled by the Red Army. Stalin'in taleplerinden biri, Kızıl Ordu tarafından kontrol edilmeyen topraklarda savaşı bitiren tüm Sovyet veya Doğu Avrupa vatandaşlarının hızlı bir şekilde geri dönmesiydi. 斯大林的其中一项要求是，在不受红军控制的领土上结束战争的任何苏联或东欧公民迅速返回。 Churchill and Roosevelt agreed to this demand, even though they understood the implications. Churchill ve Roosevelt, sonuçlarını anlamalarına rağmen bu talebi kabul ettiler. 丘吉尔和罗斯福同意了这一要求，尽管他们明白其中的含义。 Apologists for both men claim they were ignorant of Stalin's plans, but history recent to 1945 had shown the Soviet leader to be genocidal and paranoid. Her iki adam için de özür dileyenler Stalin'in planlarından habersiz olduklarını iddia etseler de 1945'e kadar olan tarih Sovyet liderinin soykırımcı ve paranoyak olduğunu göstermiştir. 为这两个人辩护的人声称他们对斯大林的计划一无所知，但最近到 1945 年的历史表明这位苏联领导人是种族灭绝和偏执狂。 The two Western leaders were, by tacit approval, helping to send tens of thousands of men to certain imprisonment or death. İki Batılı lider, zımni bir onayla, on binlerce insanın kesin bir hapse ya da ölüme gönderilmesine yardımcı oluyorlardı. 这两位西方领导人在默许下帮助将数万名男子送入特定的监禁或死刑。

The Chinese delegation on board the Missouri that Sunday morning was comprised of representatives of the Republic of China, the legitimate Nationalist government of that nation as recognized by all the allies except the Soviet Union. O Pazar sabahı Missouri'de bulunan Çin delegasyonu, Sovyetler Birliği dışındaki tüm müttefikler tarafından tanınan ve bu ülkenin meşru Milliyetçi hükümeti olan Çin Cumhuriyeti'nin temsilcilerinden oluşuyordu. 周日上午登上密苏里号的中国代表团由中华民国代表组成，中华民国是除苏联外所有盟国都承认的合法国民党政府。 China had been embroiled in a civil war since 1928, a struggle that was largely abandoned while the two sides, the Nationalists and the Communists, fought separately against the Japanese. Çin 1928'den beri bir iç savaşın içindeydi ve iki taraf, Milliyetçiler ve Komünistler, Japonlara karşı ayrı ayrı savaşırken bu mücadele büyük ölçüde terk edilmişti. 中国自 1928 年以来一直卷入内战，这场斗争在很大程度上被放弃，而国共两党分别与日本人作战。 At the same time the Japanese surrender ceremony commenced in Tokyo Harbor, the two Chinese belligerents were trying to hammer out some sort of agreement on their nation's future. Tokyo Limanı'nda Japonların teslim olma töreni başladığı sırada, iki Çinli savaşçı da uluslarının geleceği konusunda bir tür anlaşma yapmaya çalışıyordu. 在日本投降仪式在东京港举行的同时，两个中国交战国正试图就他们国家的未来达成某种协议。 But fighting continued, and by the middle of 1946 the two sides were again fully engaged in a death struggle. Ancak çatışmalar devam etti ve 1946 yılının ortalarında iki taraf yine ölümüne bir mücadeleye girişti. 但战斗仍在继续，到 1946 年中，双方再次全面展开殊死搏斗。 The Nationalists could claims superior numbers in terms of manpower, but the Communists controlled the countryside and were soon bolstered by farmers who were promised their own land in exchange for military service, a promise that quickly turned into a fantasy. Milliyetçiler insan gücü açısından daha üstün sayılara sahip olduklarını iddia edebilirlerdi, ancak Komünistler kırsal kesimi kontrol ediyorlardı ve kısa sürede askerlik hizmeti karşılığında kendi topraklarına sahip olacakları vaat edilen çiftçiler tarafından desteklendiler. 国民党可以在人力方面拥有优势，但共产党控制了农村，很快就得到了农民的支持，农民被承诺以服兵役换取自己的土地，这个承诺很快变成了幻想。 By the end of the 1949, the war was over and the Communists were taking power in Beijing. 1949 yılının sonunda savaş sona ermiş ve Komünistler Pekin'de iktidarı ele geçirmişlerdi. 到 1949 年底，战争结束，共产党在北京掌权。 The Nationalists escaped to Taiwan and set up a government-in-exile, but from the beginning it was obvious that they would never again control the mainland. Milliyetçiler Tayvan'a kaçarak sürgünde bir hükümet kurdular, ancak en başından beri anakarayı bir daha asla kontrol edemeyecekleri belliydi. 国民党逃到台湾，成立了流亡政府，但从一开始就很明显，他们再也无法控制大陆了。 They had not only been beaten by the Communists, but by years of struggle against the Japanese occupation. Sadece Komünistler tarafından değil, Japon işgaline karşı yıllarca süren mücadelede de yenilmişlerdi. 他们不仅被共产党人打败了，而且被多年反对日本占领的斗争打败了。

China would undergo painful upheavals over the next 40 years, including the Great Leap Forward, a plan to make the nation into an industrial giant in the course of just a few years. Çin önümüzdeki 40 yıl boyunca, ülkeyi sadece birkaç yıl içinde bir sanayi devi haline getirme planı olan Büyük İleri Atılım da dahil olmak üzere acı verici çalkantılar yaşayacaktı. 中国将在未来 40 年经历痛苦的剧变，包括大跃进，该计划旨在在短短几年内使国家成为工业巨人。 As a result of mismanagement and the allocation of resources away from agriculture to manufacturing, the years 1958-1962 saw more than 16 million people (and possibly as many as 40 million) die of starvation. Kötü yönetim ve kaynakların tarımdan imalata aktarılması sonucunda 1958-1962 yılları arasında 16 milyondan fazla (ve muhtemelen 40 milyon kadar) insan açlıktan ölmüştür. 由于管理不善和资源从农业转向制造业，1958 年至 1962 年间有超过 1600 万人（可能多达 4000 万人）死于饥饿。 This failed movement led directly to the Cultural Revolution, the effects of which shaped Chinese society for a generation. Bu başarısız hareket, etkileri bir nesil boyunca Çin toplumunu şekillendiren Kültür Devrimi'ne doğrudan yol açtı. 这场失败的运动直接导致了文化大革命，其影响影响了一代人的中国社会。

Also represented on the Missouri were the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands. Missouri'de ayrıca Birleşik Krallık, Fransa ve Hollanda da temsil ediliyordu. 参加密苏里号的还有英国、法国和荷兰。 All three had been colonial powers in the Pacific before the outbreak of hostilities, but most of their possessions had been occupied by Japanese forces and, with a few exceptions, would never be fully under their control again. Düşmanlıkların patlak vermesinden önce her üçü de Pasifik'te sömürgeci güçlerdi, ancak sahip oldukları toprakların çoğu Japon kuvvetleri tarafından işgal edilmişti ve birkaç istisna dışında bir daha asla tam olarak kontrol altına alınamayacaklardı. 在敌对行动爆发之前，这三个国家都是太平洋的殖民列强，但他们的大部分财产都被日本军队占领，除了少数例外，再也不会完全受到他们的控制。 France tried to quell the rising tide of anti-colonialism in French Indochina (Vietnam), but after a stunning military defeat at the hands of Viet Minh communists in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu, the government in Paris was done in mainland Asia. Fransa, Fransız Çinhindi'nde (Vietnam) yükselen sömürgecilik karşıtı dalgayı bastırmaya çalıştı, ancak 1954'te Dien Bien Phu'da Viet Minh komünistlerinin elindeki çarpıcı bir askeri yenilgiden sonra, Paris'teki hükümetin Asya anakarasında işi bitmişti. 法国试图平息法属印度支那（越南）日益高涨的反殖民主义浪潮，但在 1954 年在奠边府被越盟共产党人打败后，巴黎政府在亚洲大陆上完蛋了。 Vietnam was divided in two, but the partition solved nothing. 越南一分为二，但分治没有解决任何问题。 In a little over 10 years, American, Australian and South Korean troops would be fighting communist insurgents and North Vietnamese Army regulars in the jungles of South Vietnam. Dans un peu plus de 10 ans, les troupes américaines, australiennes et sud-coréennes combattraient les insurgés communistes et les habitués de l'armée nord-vietnamienne dans les jungles du Sud-Vietnam. 10 yıldan biraz daha uzun bir süre içinde Amerikan, Avustralya ve Güney Kore birlikleri Güney Vietnam ormanlarında komünist isyancılar ve Kuzey Vietnam Ordusu askerleriyle savaşacaktı. 在 10 年多一点的时间里，美国、澳大利亚和韩国军队将在南越丛林中与共产主义叛乱分子和北越正规军作战。

Of all the colonial powers, the British Empire paid the highest price for victory. Tüm sömürgeci güçler arasında zafer için en yüksek bedeli ödeyen Britanya İmparatorluğu olmuştur. 在所有殖民列强中，大英帝国为胜利付出的代价最高。 The British people and the colonial citizens of the Empire, along with the Dominion nations, had stood alone against the Nazi war machine from the fall of France in May, 1940 until the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June, 1941. İngiliz halkı ve İmparatorluğun sömürge vatandaşları, Dominyon uluslarıyla birlikte, 1940 Mayıs'ında Fransa'nın düşmesinden 1941 Haziran'ında Almanya'nın Sovyetler Birliği'ni işgaline kadar Nazi savaş makinesine karşı tek başlarına durdular. 从 1940 年 5 月法国沦陷到 1941 年 6 月德国入侵苏联，英国人民和帝国的殖民公民以及自治领国家一直在独自对抗纳粹战争机器。 British, Australian, New Zealand, Indian, and dozens of other nations' soldiers, sailors, and airmen from across the Empire fought on almost every front during the war. İngiliz, Avustralyalı, Yeni Zelandalı, Hintli ve İmparatorluğun dört bir yanından onlarca başka ulusun askerleri, denizcileri ve havacıları savaş boyunca neredeyse her cephede savaştı. 战争期间，来自帝国各地的英国、澳大利亚、新西兰、印度和其他几十个国家的士兵、水手和飞行员几乎在每条前线作战。 Resources were always strained, even after the United States entered the war in December, 1941. Amerika Birleşik Devletleri Aralık 1941'de savaşa girdikten sonra bile kaynaklar her zaman kısıtlıydı. 资源总是很紧张，即使在美国于 1941 年 12 月参战之后也是如此。 In 1922, four years after the end of the First World War, one in four human beings lived in lands controlled by the British Empire. 1922 yılında, Birinci Dünya Savaşı'nın sona ermesinden dört yıl sonra, her dört insandan biri Britanya İmparatorluğu'nun kontrol ettiği topraklarda yaşıyordu. 1922 年，即第一次世界大战结束四年后，四分之一的人生活在大英帝国控制的土地上。 It was truly worldwide in scope; when people said the sun never set on the British Empire, they meant it. Il avait une portée véritablement mondiale; quand les gens disaient que le soleil ne s'était jamais couché sur l'Empire britannique, ils le pensaient. Kapsamı gerçekten dünya çapındaydı; insanlar Britanya İmparatorluğu'nda güneşin hiç batmadığını söylediklerinde bunu kastediyorlardı. 它确实是世界范围的；当人们说大英帝国日不落时，他们是认真的。 But even then, cracks were starting to appear. Ancak o zaman bile çatlaklar ortaya çıkmaya başlamıştı. 但即便如此，裂缝也开始出现。 Defending far-flung outposts required the world's largest navy and a large standing army. Uzak karakolları savunmak dünyanın en büyük donanmasını ve büyük bir daimi orduyu gerektiriyordu. 保卫遥远的前哨基地需要世界上最大的海军和庞大的常备军。 The Royal Navy met the challenge, at least until the outbreak of the Second World War. Kraliyet Donanması, en azından İkinci Dünya Savaşı patlak verene kadar bu zorluğun üstesinden geldi. 皇家海军迎接了挑战，至少在第二次世界大战爆发之前是这样。 But Britain could not maintain a large standing army as France did during most of the inter-war years. Ancak İngiltere, savaş arası yılların çoğunda Fransa'nın yaptığı gibi büyük bir daimi ordu bulunduramadı. 但在两次世界大战之间的大部分时间里，英国无法像法国那样维持一支庞大的常备军。 Nor could it fight a two-front war. Tampoco podría librar una guerra en dos frentes. İki cepheli bir savaşa da giremezdi. 它也无法打一场两线作战。 The Empire had reached beyond its grasp; bravery and a stiff upper lip were no longer enough to win the day on their own. El Imperio había llegado más allá de su alcance; la valentía y el labio superior rígido ya no eran suficientes para ganar el día por sí mismos. İmparatorluk kavrayabileceğinin ötesine ulaşmıştı; cesaret ve soğukkanlılık artık günü kazanmak için tek başına yeterli değildi. 帝国已经超出了它的控制范围。勇敢和僵硬的上唇不再足以赢得胜利。 Such was the availability of the Royal Navy, for example, that when the British Pacific Fleet was formally organized in 1944 from smaller area commands, the entire formation was given a single task force number when operating with units of the US Pacific Fleet, itself part of a navy which had strength of more than 6,000 ships in 1945. Örneğin, İngiliz Pasifik Filosu 1944'te daha küçük alan komutanlıklarından resmen organize edildiğinde, 1945'te 6.000'den fazla gemiye sahip bir donanmanın parçası olan ABD Pasifik Filosu'nun birimleriyle çalışırken tüm oluşuma tek bir görev gücü numarası verildi. 例如，英国皇家海军的可用性就是如此，当英国太平洋舰队于 1944 年从较小的地区司令部正式组建时，整个编队在与美国太平洋舰队的部队一起作战时被赋予一个单一的特遣部队编号，而美国太平洋舰队本身就是一部分1945 年拥有 6,000 多艘舰船的海军。 The British Pacific Fleet contained fewer than 180 vessels during the same period. Aynı dönemde İngiliz Pasifik Filosu'nda 180'den az gemi bulunuyordu. 同期，英国太平洋舰队拥有的船只不到 180 艘。 The Empire's largest colony, India, gained its independence in 1947. 帝国最大的殖民地印度于 1947 年获得独立。 Within 20 years, almost all the colonial territories would be independent nations. 20年之内，几乎所有的殖民地都将成为独立的国家。 By the time the generation who fought the war reached middle age, the term ‘British Empire' was no longer in use. Savaşa katılan kuşak orta yaşa ulaştığında, 'Britanya İmparatorluğu' terimi artık kullanılmıyordu. 到参加战争的那一代人步入中年时，“大英帝国”一词已不再使用。 Economically devastated, it would not be until the beginning of the 1950's that the UK's economy would again show sustained growth. Ekonomik olarak harap olan Birleşik Krallık ekonomisi 1950'li yılların başına kadar yeniden sürdürülebilir bir büyüme gösteremeyecektir. 经济遭受重创，直到 1950 年代初，英国经济才再次出现持续增长。 Of all the allied powers, only the United States emerged stronger overall than when the war began. Tüm müttefik güçler arasında sadece ABD, savaşın başladığı döneme kıyasla daha güçlü bir şekilde savaştan çıkmıştır. 在所有盟国中，只有美国整体上比战争开始时更加强大。 While the death of nearly 420,000 Americans was a grievous loss, it was actually a smaller death toll than had occurred during the US Civil War 80 years before. Yaklaşık 420.000 Amerikalının ölümü büyük bir kayıp olsa da, aslında 80 yıl önceki ABD İç Savaşı sırasında meydana gelenden daha az bir ölü sayısıydı. 虽然近 420,000 名美国人的死亡是一个严重的损失，但实际上比 80 年前美国内战期间的死亡人数要少。 And it was a much smaller total than expected, since all but a handful of Americans assumed that victory in the Pacific would require an invasion of the Japanese home islands. Ve beklenenden çok daha küçük bir toplamdı, çünkü bir avuç Amerikalı dışında herkes Pasifik'teki zaferin Japon ana adalarının işgalini gerektireceğini varsayıyordu. 而且这个总数比预期的要少得多，因为除了少数美国人之外，所有人都认为太平洋的胜利需要入侵日本本土岛屿。 While the morality of bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki is debated today, the average American of 1945 welcomed the news with relief. Hiroşima ve Nagazaki'nin bombalanmasının ahlaki olup olmadığı bugün tartışılsa da, 1945'in ortalama bir Amerikalısı bu haberi rahatlayarak karşıladı. 虽然今天对轰炸广岛和长崎的道德进行了辩论，但 1945 年的普通美国人欣然接受了这个消息。 While the economic might of the United States had been evident for decades, it emerged from the Second World War as a superpower in every quantifiable way. Amerika Birleşik Devletleri'nin ekonomik gücü onlarca yıldır ortadayken, İkinci Dünya Savaşı'ndan ölçülebilir her yönden süper güç olarak çıkmıştır. 尽管美国的经济实力几十年来一直很明显，但它从第二次世界大战中崛起为一个可以量化的超级大国。 But that status came with great responsibilities. Ancak bu statü büyük sorumlulukları da beraberinde getiriyordu. 但这种地位伴随着巨大的责任。 By 1947, the Cold War with the Soviet Union was underway. 1947 yılına gelindiğinde Sovyetler Birliği ile Soğuk Savaş başlamıştı. 到 1947 年，与苏联的冷战正在进行。 Historians will probably debate the true origins of this standoff for the next few centuries and we will not delve into the causes or merits of it here. Tarihçiler muhtemelen önümüzdeki birkaç yüzyıl boyunca bu çekişmenin gerçek kökenlerini tartışacaklardır ve biz burada bunun nedenlerine ya da esasına girmeyeceğiz. 在接下来的几个世纪里，历史学家可能会争论这场僵局的真正起源，我们不会在这里深入探讨它的原因或优点。 The Soviet Union's military might did not fade immediately after the war; conversely, the United States' military draw-down was quick and, as later events would prove, excessive. La puissance militaire de l'Union soviétique ne s'est pas atténuée immédiatement après la guerre; à l'inverse, le retrait militaire des États-Unis a été rapide et, comme les événements ultérieurs le prouveraient, excessif. Sovyetler Birliği'nin askeri gücü savaştan hemen sonra azalmadı; tersine, ABD'nin askeri geri çekilişi hızlı ve daha sonraki olayların kanıtlayacağı gibi aşırı oldu. 苏联的军事实力并没有在战后立即消退；相反，美国的军事缩减速度很快，而且正如后来的事件所证明的那样，是过度的。 The lessons learned from the Berlin Airlift in 1947-48 and the Korean War (1950-53) led to a situation unique in American history. 1947-48 Berlin Hava İkmalinden ve Kore Savaşından (1950-53) alınan dersler Amerikan tarihinde eşi benzeri olmayan bir duruma yol açmıştır. 从 1947-48 年的柏林空运和朝鲜战争（1950-53 年）中吸取的教训导致了美国历史上独一无二的局面。 Until the mid-20th century, the United States had an established tradition of allowing the American military to shrink to alarming levels during times of peace. Jusqu'au milieu du 20e siècle, les États-Unis avaient une tradition établie de permettre à l'armée américaine de se réduire à des niveaux alarmants en temps de paix. 20. yüzyılın ortalarına kadar Amerika Birleşik Devletleri, barış zamanlarında Amerikan ordusunun endişe verici seviyelere kadar küçülmesine izin veren yerleşik bir geleneğe sahipti. 直到20世纪中叶，美国有一个既定的传统，那就是在和平时期允许美国军队缩减到惊人的水平。 When war loomed, citizen soldiers volunteered (or were drafted) to fill in the ranks, led by the small corps of professional officers and senior enlisted men. Lorsque la guerre se profile, les soldats citoyens se portent volontaires (ou sont enrôlés) pour remplir les rangs, dirigés par le petit corps d'officiers professionnels et de hauts rangs. Savaş yaklaştığında, yurttaş askerler gönüllü olarak (ya da askere alınarak) küçük profesyonel subaylar ve kıdemli erlerden oluşan birliğin önderliğinde safları doldurdular. 当战争迫在眉睫时，公民士兵自愿（或被征召）填补队伍，由专业军官和高级士兵领导。 Arms manufacturers cranked up production and makers of other products began making the tools of combat. Les fabricants d'armes ont accéléré la production et les fabricants d'autres produits ont commencé à fabriquer des outils de combat. Silah üreticileri üretimi artırdı ve diğer ürünlerin üreticileri savaş araçlarını üretmeye başladı. 武器制造商加快了生产，其他产品的制造商开始制造作战工具。

So it had been from the War of Independence to the Second World War. Kurtuluş Savaşı'ndan İkinci Dünya Savaşı'na kadar böyle olmuştur. 所以从独立战争到第二次世界大战。 But those days had passed. 但那些日子已经过去了。 The Cold War required constant readiness, which required a relatively large military. La guerre froide exigeait une disponibilité permanente, ce qui exigeait une armée relativement importante. Soğuk Savaş sürekli hazır olmayı gerektiriyordu, bu da nispeten büyük bir ordu gerektiriyordu. 冷战需要时刻准备就绪，这需要相对庞大的军队。 The United States kept troops on permanent station in West Germany, South Korea, Japan, and dozens of other places around the world, armed and trained for the Third World War. Amerika Birleşik Devletleri, Batı Almanya, Güney Kore, Japonya ve dünyanın dört bir yanındaki düzinelerce başka yerde, Üçüncü Dünya Savaşı için silahlandırılmış ve eğitilmiş birliklerini daimi olarak konuşlandırdı. 美国在西德、韩国、日本和世界其他几十个地方永久驻扎军队，为第三次世界大战武装和训练。 This costly endeavor was maintained for 40 years, until the breakup of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991. Bu maliyetli çaba, 1991 sonunda Sovyetler Birliği'nin dağılmasına kadar 40 yıl boyunca sürdürüldü. 这项代价高昂的努力维持了 40 年，直到 1991 年底苏联解体。 Such military strength required the creation of a permanent arms industry in the United States, Europe and Asia. Böyle bir askeri güç, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri, Avrupa ve Asya'da kalıcı bir silah endüstrisinin yaratılmasını gerektiriyordu. 这种军事实力需要在美国、欧洲和亚洲建立永久性的军火工业。 The so-called military-industrial complex is still with us and probably always will be. 所谓的军工联合体仍然存在，而且可能永远存在。 America's willingness to out-spend and out-research the Soviet Union in terms of military spending and procurement was one of the leading causes of the collapse of communism in Europe. Amerika'nın askeri harcamalar ve tedarik konusunda Sovyetler Birliği'nden daha fazla harcama yapma ve daha fazla araştırma yapma isteği, Avrupa'da komünizmin çöküşünün önde gelen nedenlerinden biriydi. 美国愿意在军费开支和采购方面超过苏联，这是导致欧洲共产主义崩溃的主要原因之一。 The Cold War was won not with the force of arms, but by the constant threat of new and better ones. La Guerra Fría no se ganó con la fuerza de las armas, sino con la constante amenaza de nuevas y mejores. Soğuk Savaş silah gücüyle değil, sürekli yeni ve daha iyilerinin tehdidiyle kazanıldı. 冷战的胜利不是靠武力，而是靠新的更好的武器的不断威胁。

It doesn't take much examination to see how fundamentally our world changed because of the Second World War. İkinci Dünya Savaşı nedeniyle dünyamızın ne kadar temelden değiştiğini görmek için fazla incelemeye gerek yok. 不难看出我们的世界因第二次世界大战发生了多么根本的变化。 That war brought an end to the vestiges of 19th century life, mainly colonialism and the idea that wars were only to be fought against a nation's military, not its entire civilian population. Bu savaş, başta sömürgecilik ve savaşların bir ulusun tüm sivil nüfusuna değil sadece ordusuna karşı yapılması gerektiği fikri olmak üzere 19. yüzyıl yaşamının kalıntılarına son verdi. 那场战争结束了 19 世纪生活的痕迹，主要是殖民主义和战争只针对一个国家的军队而不是全体平民的想法。 It also created the specter of nuclear annihilation, a reality that probably kept the world out of another worldwide conflagration. Aynı zamanda nükleer imha hayaletini de yarattı ki bu gerçeklik muhtemelen dünyayı dünya çapında bir başka yangından uzak tuttu. 它还造成了核毁灭的幽灵，这一现实可能使世界远离另一场世界性大火。 But that's another story. 但那是另一回事了。